Caroline Celestia Ingalls Swanzey ( ; August 3, 1870 – June 2, 1946) was the third child of Charles and Caroline Ingalls, and was born in Montgomery County, Kansas. She was a younger sister of Laura Ingalls Wilder, who is known for her Little House books.

Biography

Carrie Ingalls Swanzey was described as small, thin and frail, and, according to Laura's books, suffered the most of all the Ingalls family members through the deprivations of the hard winter of 1880–1881. Ingalls was not constantly ill, but she never enjoyed robust physical health during her life. She traveled to several places in her young adulthood seeking a more comfortable climate, including Colorado and Wyoming.

thumb|right|220px|Surveyors' House, first home in Dakota Territory of the Charles Ingalls family

thumb|right|220px|De Smet School, first school in De Smet and attended by Carrie Ingalls and her older sister, Laura

During her late-teen years Ingalls was a typesetter for the De Smet News and, subsequently, other newspapers throughout the state for Edward Louis Senn. She settled in Keystone, South Dakota in 1911. He was later killed in a car accident in Keystone, South Dakota, on April 16, 1939,

Like Grace and Laura, Swanzey suffered from diabetes, and died of complications from the disease at a hospital in Rapid City, South Dakota, on June 2, 1946, at age 75. She was buried in the De Smet Cemetery.

In the media

Carrie was portrayed in the television adaptations of Little House on the Prairie by:

  • Twins Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush in the television series Little House on the Prairie and its movie sequels
  • Haley McCormick in Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder

References

  • Carrie Ingalls page
  • About the Ingalls Family (Sarah S. Uthoff)